In positive psychology, flow, also known colloquially as being 'in the zone', is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Before I was a psychologist, I had the privilege of taking acting classes with teacher, Carol Fox Prescott. Carol’s core teaching was ‘to live for the joy of your own experience.’ She led the class to open to flow in performance - blissful immersion in the process of bringing a script to life.
It was a naturally altered state.
It felt like soaring, like I was at full potential. In those moments of performance, if I dropped into my flow, I felt invincible, unchained, and free. Flow is the opposite of flatness, lack of inspiration and feeling stuck – an antidote to suffering.
Flow is sometimes called ‘peak experience’ because you feel at your best. You’re at one with what you’re doing, immersed, and merged with your moment-by-moment experience so that the act of doing becomes an act of ‘communing with’. The mind is often in a meditative, ‘being’ state in flow.
Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, sometimes called the ‘father of flow’, has spent decades researching the importance of flow in psychological wellbeing. He observed that time disappears in a state of flow, when being in the moment takes on an all-encompassing, magical quality.
Your attention is acutely focused on your task, so you tend to be more efficient, undistracted. Flow is an energizing and nourishing state; often creative, productive, satisfying and highly enjoyable. It’s likely to be the state in which you do your best work.
It’s the experience of your energy coursing through you unfettered, channeled through your unique personality, talents, and interests, so it feels both connected and intensely personal. It’s like being immersed, in love with your work, art, sport, or whatever passionate pursuit you are in a relationship with, in that moment. It makes you fall more in love with yourself, if that’s something you’re crying out for because you tend to be self-critical.
Though flow often involves a challenge, it’s a challenge you want to pursue, because it fascinates or draws you to it. It might sometimes take effort to evoke it, but once it’s happening flow is reward in itself. It’s a grounding, profoundly healthful state.
Do you know some places where you find Flow?
To discover more of what you’re passionate about, where your flow lives, you may need to stumble about a little, explore, and feel around, until something is ignited in you.
Some people find lasting passions early in life, but for many it takes time and getting to know yourself to identify the core sources of flow you want to consciously return to for soul nourishment. Your places of flow can change and evolve over your lifetime.
If you’re searching for your sources of flow, here’s some questions to reflect or journal about:
1. When in your life have you lost yourself in the pleasure of something, or intense curiosity about something, and time has flown?
2. When are you most absorbed?
3. What are you best at?
4. What lights you up; makes you feel expansive, free?
5. What's your go to 'thing' to do when you have time alone? Or what would you like it to be?
6. What have you often thought about exploring, wondered about trying - but haven't acted upon, for whatever reasons?
7. How long have you had the wood, or the paints, the brochure, or just the fantasy of yourself doing the thing - whatever it is?
8. Some clues to finding flow might come from loves of your childhood. Are there loves of long ago you never really grew out of, but have let fall by the wayside?
9. If you can’t start it today, can you schedule the potential flow activity today and make it real in your life?
Flow often takes cultivation, the joy deepening, as your skills and interest develop through a process of challenges, successes and failures. For example, it’s hard to find flow in skating or dancing when you’re a beginner falling over, but down the track….that feeling…
Give yourself loving patience – it’s worth it to locate sources of potentially life-long joy and peak experiences. When you’ve located a passionate pursuit, be it work, play or a combination, hold it in your sights and make time and space for it on your planner so it’s happening and not just a vague possibility for another time.
Good Stuff in My Week to Mention:
I’m thrilled to soon be an upcoming guest on the amazing podcast Dear Nelly. I absolutely recommend subscribing to Nelly’s pod if you like hearing about dating and relationships on the other side of 40. It’s so warm and smart and human. She’s an insightful, compassionate gem.
On SBS. All the episodes are out now and the winner ‘crowned’. I was blown away by the person who won in so many ways. I don’t want to go on about them here and spoil it in case you haven’t watched the series. I knew they could win from the moment I heard their story and the way they told it. I’m just going to say watch it, it’s worth it.
14 Peaks Nothing is Impossible
I love mountaineering movies and this one is very special because the Nepalese mountaineers are the stars rather than the unsung power behind the expeditions, (which has unfortunately often been the case historically.) Their courage and strength is utterly inspiring.